Battle of Arras (1917)

Battle of Arras
Part of the Western Front of the First World War
The town square, Arras, France, February 1919
Date 9 April – 16 May 1917 Location Arras, France 50°17′23″N 2°46′51″E / 50.28972°N 2.78083°E / 50.28972; 2.78083Coordinates: 50°17′23″N 2°46′51″E / 50.28972°N 2.78083°E / 50.28972; 2.78083 Result British victory
Belligerents
British Empire  United Kingdom  Canada  Australia  Newfoundland  New Zealand  South Africa	German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Douglas Haig Edmund Allenby Arthur Currie Hubert Gough Henry Horne	Ludwig von Falkenhausen Erich Ludendorff Georg von der Marwitz
Strength
first day: 14 divisions in the assault 9 divisions in reserve	first day: 12 divisions in the line 5 divisions in reserve
Casualties and losses
158,000	120,000–130,000
† See Casualties section

 British Empire

The Battle of Arras (also known as the Second Battle of Arras) was a British offensive on the Western Front during World War I. From 9 April to 16 May 1917, British troops attacked German defences near the French city of Arras on the Western Front. There were big gains on the first day, followed by stalemate. The battle cost nearly 160,000 British and about 125,000 German casualties.

For much of the war, the opposing armies on the Western Front were at a stalemate, with a continuous line of trenches stretching from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border. The Allied objective from early 1915 was to break through the German defences into the open ground beyond and engage the numerically inferior German Army in a war of movement. The British attack at Arras was part of the French Nivelle Offensive, the main part of which was to take place 50 miles (80 km) to the south. The aim of this combined operation was to end the war in forty-eight hours. At Arras the British were to divert German troops from the French front and to take the German-held high ground that dominated the plain of Douai.

The British effort was a relatively broad front assault between Vimy in the north-west and Bullecourt in the south-east. After considerable bombardment, Canadian troops of the First Army in the north fought Battle of Vimy Ridge and captured the ridge. The Third Army in the centre advanced astride the Scarpe River, making the deepest penetration since trench warfare began and in the south, the Fifth Army attacked the Hindenburg Line and was frustrated by the defence in depth, making only minimal gains. The British armies then engaged in a series of small-scale operations to consolidate the new positions. Although these battles were generally successful in achieving limited aims, these were gained at the price of relatively large numbers of casualties.

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